mesquite wood

[jimbob]

Since I am from South Texas, I have a real fondess for mesquite wood...it makes great BBQ fires, very pretty furniture , and impressive gun stocks just mention a few applications. Have any of you builders thought about possible application of mesquite in your mandolin construction ? I have no idea how it would fair as a sound wood. I would thing it would be considered a relatively hard wood. If it is not suitable for backs, sides or necks, then I bet it would at least make for some very appealing cosmetics ...maybe a headstock overlay or pick guard. I just wondered if any of you builders had ever used this wood or considerd it.

[Bill Snyder]

Bill Bussman of Old Wave Mandolins offers mesquite as on option for backs and sides on his mandolas and octive mandolins. See his specs page (http://www.zianet.com/bussmann/prices.html) near the bottom where some options are given.

[oldwave maker]

jimbob- I like mesquite for ovalhole mandos, its generally heavier, stiffer and more stable than maple, gives a bit more bright and clear, somewhat like koa, ringing without the up front woody of mahogany. The prosopis family is a distant relative of acacia. Havent used it for binding, made 1 fretboard (never again!) tough on edge tools, abrasives work well. Send me any 1x12's at least 16" long that you wont be using! heres a current burl mesquite peghead:

[WoodyMcKenzie]

A rule of thumb that my acoustics mentor gave me for choosing wood for instruments has to do with looking at the ratio of its density to its modulus. For example, if you want wood to behave similarly to red maple, for example, then try to find published values and compare to find a similar ratio. There are some government sites that have lots of different woods with these values published, but I haven't looked in awhile. At the time, I was building a xylophone and wanted to find an inexpensive substitute for rosewood. I ended up using black locust and though it is lower density, it worked quite well for that purpose. I also believe locust would work well for a mandolin. It really rings! If you take Bill Bussman's advice and generalize even further, then perhaps lots of legume family trees similar to the acacias have promise as instrument woods. Koa and blackwood are already proven. I suppose you could go too far though, using the ironwood that the west Mexican coast natives carve dolphins and roadrunners out of. #It is one of the densest of woods (1.4?). Anyway, I think a mesquite mandolin would be cool!

Woody

[Spruce]

I built a couple mandolins with curly mesquite back and sides back in the 70's, and I love the stuff...

It's a great look under varnish (especially the curly stuff), and the smell of the wood when you're working it is one of my alltime favorite fragrances, bar none.

I have a wonderful octave mandolin built by Mr. Bussman that I've been playing alot lately, that has mesquite back and sides and a cedar top. Sounds great!

I also have a mesquite cutting board that is only 10mm thick or so, and no matter how I wet or abuse it, it never deviates from "dead flat". This leads me to believe that the wood is very stable--nice to know....

[sunburst]

I ended up using black locust and though it is lower density, it worked quite well for that purpose. I also believe locust would work well for a mandolin. It really rings!
Black Locust grows like a weed around here. I noted the similarity to Rosewood many years ago and have been wanting to build a guitar with it for as many years, but haven't done it yet. It's hard to find a sound tree big enough to quarter saw for guitar backs. In the meantime, John Arnold beat me to it. He has built at least one guitar from Locust.

For some reason, I never thought of using it for a mandolin, tho I've thought of using Rosewood. I'm pretty sure I have some big enough for mandolins....hmmmm.......

[douglas2cats]

RE Spruce's comments about mesquite being stable. I remember reading something in the last year or two (possibly in Wood magazine ?) that once mesquite has been dried it has practically no movement in EITHER direction. Very stable stuff indeed.

[ShaneJ]

I'm in mesquite territory too (Abilene, TX), and I've wondered about this too. The hard part is finding a piece big enough without any insect holes or other bad spots. There's plenty out there, but there's more firewood than lumber. It is definitely beautiful wood. I thought I had heard or read somewhere that the tonal characteristics were lacking, but the comments here are encouraging. I am about to attempt to build my first mando. I might consider mesquite. There's a guy here in town that has a big supply of good wood. He builds furniture, lamps, etc.

Should I go for it, or just stick with maple for #1?

[Tom C]

Not knowing a darn thing about woods, I would stick with maple for #1. This way you can find other mandos for comparison. If it come out sounding dead or thin you will not know if it had something to do with your building of it or because of the wood used.

[ShaneJ]

Good point. Thanks!